Rappelling rig and method of using same

ABSTRACT

A rig for use in conjunction with a helicopter or other aircraft which allows the aircraft to be quickly converted to use as a platform for rappelling. The rig is preferably constructed of strapping materials into relatively planar main body portion with attached legs which connect to the struts supporting the helicopter&#39;s landing gear. The rig may also be bent and folded for compact storage without loss of structural integrity.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

The present invention pertains to a rig used as a connection point forconnecting rappelling or fast-roping ropes to a helicopter or similarvehicle.

(2) Background of the Invention

In modern society, there is a need for humans to be able to accesslocations from above. How this access is obtained depends on the natureof the target location and the surrounding terrain and structures. Toget into remote, inaccessible, or high elevation locations where accessfrom above is required, individuals often utilize the techniques ofrappelling or fast-roping. These techniques essentially allow a user toutilize a rope and a friction device to descend from an overheadposition into the location in a controlled manner. Essentially, the userdescends from an elevated position to a lower position with the rope andfriction device slowing or stopping the descent.

In order to rappel or fast rope, however, a rope is generally supportedat the upper elevation and allowed to freely hang into the lowerelevation under the force of gravity. The user then descends down therope using the rope and associated equipment to generate sufficientfriction to control the descent. In this way, so long as the user canget higher than the target location, they can access it from above.

While rappelling or fast roping may be performed from a natural ormanmade structure down a slope or drop, this generally only allowsaccess to a lower elevation from a higher elevation accessible by analternative route. Rappelling and fast-roping are, however, particularlyuseful where the location is inaccessible by an overland or similarroute, but is accessible from above by air. Therefore, the technique isoften used from a helicopter or other hovering aircraft.

The need to rappel into a location arises in numerous differentcontexts. For instance, in search and rescue operations it is oftennecessary for rescue personnel to reach an area relatively inaccessiblefrom the ground very quickly. For instance, an adventure seeker may beinjured and require rapid medical intervention to avoid a permanentinjury or death. If the adventure seeker is many days hike from roads orother locations, or has fallen in a location inaccessible from theground (such as into a gully, or off a rock formation), personnel onfoot may not be able to reach him/her in time to provide the neededmedical intervention. However, an aircraft can often arrive over theadventure seeker's position significantly faster and rescue personnelcan rappel down to the person to provide aid until overland help canarrive, or they can move the person toward approaching overland units todecrease the time before the adventure seeker is in the care of ahospital. In some situations, an overland route may be completelyimpossible. For instance, a ship lost in high seas can result in manysurvivors floating in the water. Because of the conditions which sankthe original ship, it may be impossible for rescue personnel to approachthe survivors by water. However, aid may be able to be rendered bypersonnel approaching from above by helicopter.

In other situations, military or police organizations need to droppersonnel into potentially hostile areas so they can fight hostileforces, or attempt to arrest or contain criminals. In many of thesesituations (as also in many of the above situations) rappelling is apreferred method because the helicopter cannot land or it is unsafe forthe helicopter to land. For instance, if the helicopter were to land ona building during a hostage situation, the hostage taker may attempt tocommandeer the helicopter to make an escape. In other situations, thelocation simply does not permit the helicopter to land as the targetlocation may be within dense forestation, rocks, or other objects or maybe under fire. All of these conditions can prohibit the existence of asuitable landing site.

For all these reasons, rappelling has become one of the primary methodsfor getting personnel from a hovering helicopter to the ground safely.While rappelling may be a preferred method in many situations, mostcivilian helicopters and smaller helicopters have to do more than justcarry rappelling individuals and are therefore not designed forrappelling maneuvers at all times. In search and rescue and otheractivities, the helicopter may be needed for many things other than justrappelling (such as rapid response of ground crews to a nearby area ortransport of injured parties) and the inclusion of a rappelling rig inthe helicopter at all times can necessarily take up space that would bebetter used for other things on some missions or can even completelyprevent the use of the helicopter for other tasks. Further, as ahelicopter generally has to have its doors removed for use in arappelling situation, it is undesirable, and potentially dangerous, toprepare the helicopter for rappelling maneuvers unless they are known tobe needed as personnel and gear can fall from the helicopter in flightwhen the doors are removed.

While rappelling is a great tool, it is also a hazardous activity. Whenrappelling, a person is suspended by rope high above the ground and theonly items preventing them from falling are the strength of the rope,the knots, and the support to which the ropes are secured. Ropes andconnectors used in rappelling are generally of highly modern materialsand construction and are designed to support much more weight thannecessary, even when damaged. However, where these ropes attach areoften barely within weight requirements and are often not designed forthe rappelling task. Many times the helicopter does not include presethard points to allow for secure connection to the body of the helicopterand the rappeller is forced to attach at structures intended for anotherpurpose entirely which may or may not be suitably secure. In use,multiple rappellers may also simultaneously rappel from multiple pointsalso placing undo strain on the support, possibly with disastrousresults.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Because of these and other problems in the art, it is desirable to havea rig which can be added or removed from a helicopter or other aircraftquickly, The rig, once installed, provides the ability for rappelling orfast-roping operations from the helicopter or other aircraft. It is alsodesirable that the rig be easily transportable for use when and whereneeded, and be designed to support multiple rappellers simultaneouslywithout exceeding tolerances.

Described herein, in an embodiment is a rappelling rig comprising: arelatively planar main body portion comprising strapping materials; aplurality of legs attached to the main body portion, the legs comprisingstrapping materials; and at least one attachment point connected to themain body portion, the attachment point being suitable for theattachment of a rappelling rope; wherein, each of the plurality of legsis connected to a strut of the helicopter such that the main bodyportion is suspended within the helicopter in such a manner that a usercan attach a rappelling rope to the attachment point and rappel from thehelicopter.

In an embodiment of the rappelling rig, the strapping materials comprisestrips of webbing, rope, cable, or chain. In another embodiment of therappelling rig there is included at least one secondary attachment pointwhich may be used by the user for rappelling or as a safety connectionfor a second user in the helicopter. There may also be at least onetertiary attachment point which may be used by the user for rappellingor as a safety connection for a second user in the helicopter.

In another embodiment of the rappelling rig, the main body portion isgenerally polygonal in shape, the polygon may be a quadrilateral ortrapezoidal shape and the legs may attached to the main body portion atthe corners of the quadrilateral or trapezoidal shape.

In another embodiment of the rappelling rig, each of the legs comprisesa loop of the strapping materials which may have one end of the loopsewn to the main body and the other end of the loop is attached to themain body by a connector. The loop may also be covered by a protectivecovering which may be removably secured around the leg and theconnector. The legs may be wrapped around the struts of the helicopter.

In another embodiment of the rappelling rig, a support may be includedin the main body portion, the support comprising a beam or “X”constructed of strapping materials.

In a still further embodiment, there is described herein a method ofpreparing a helicopter for a rappelling operation, the method comprisingthe steps of: providing a helicopter; providing a rig, the rigcomprising: a relatively planar main body portion comprising strappingmaterials; a plurality of legs attached to the main body portion, thelegs comprising strapping materials; and at least one attachment pointconnected to the main body portion, the attachment point being suitablefor the attachment of a rappelling rope; removing doors from thehelicopter; laying the rig on the floor of the helicopter; wrapping thelegs around struts of the helicopter so that each leg encircles a strutof the helicopter; adjusting the legs so as to support the main bodyportion under tension in the helicopter; attaching a rappelling rope tothe attachment point; and allowing a rappeller to be connected to therappelling rope.

In still another embodiment, there is described herein a rig for use inrappelling from a helicopter, the rig comprising: a main body portion;attachment means for allowing a rappelling rope to be attached to themain body portion; and leg means for attaching the main body portion tothe helicopter, the leg means connecting to the struts of thehelicopter; wherein, each of the leg means is connected to the struts ofthe helicopter so that the main body portion generally cannot moverelative to the helicopter and a user can attach a rappelling rope tothe attachment means and rappel from the helicopter.

In yet another embodiment of the rig, the main body portion and/or thelegs are constructed of 1-¾″ Type 13U webbing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a rappelling rig in place in a helicopterand ready to use.

FIG. 2 shows the rig of FIG. 1 separated from the helicopter.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of a rig separated from a helicopter.

FIG. 4 provides a detailed view of an embodiment of a rig in the processof being mounted in a helicopter showing construction of a leg andprotective covering.

FIG. 5 provides a detailed view of the embodiment of FIG. 4 showing theattachment points in more detail.

FIG. 6 provides for a rappeller ready to rappel from a helicopter usingan embodiment of the rig.

FIG. 7 provides a flowchart of the steps for installing an embodiment ofa rig into a helicopter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 through 6 provide views of different embodiments of a rappellingrig (100) in accordance with the present invention. The embodiments arediscussed simultaneously. The rappelling rig (100) is preferablyconstructed of materials having a high strength to weight ratio andwhich can be arranged to give the rig (100) a generally thin relativelyplanar construction. These materials will generally be relatively thinthemselves and may comprise strips of material or rope-like structures.These materials will generally be referred to herein as “straps” or“strapping materials,” and for the purposes of this disclosure, strapsand strapping materials expressly includes, but is not limited to,leather or other animal hides, webbing materials, fabrics, ropes,chains, cables, bands, ligatures, wire, ribbons, sashes, plastics, orsimilar materials. In particular, the rig (100) is preferablyconstructed of strips of webbing (such as ballistic webbing), rope,strips of fabrics or other similar structures. In alternativeembodiment, flexible metal structures such as cables or chains may beused. In the depicted embodiments, strips of climbing webbing are used.The webbing may be webbing rated for use in rappelling, and that is usedelsewhere in rappelling activities, constructed into the rig (100), ormay be specially constructed for the rig (100) out of any material. Therig (100) preferably is designed to support at least the weight of twopersons without failure. In particular, the components of the depictedpreferred embodiment are mostly constructed of 1-¾″ type 13U webbing twolayers thick. The first layer forming an inner body and the other layerforming an outer body.

The rig (100) is preferably constructed by sewing or otherwise attachingpieces of the strapping materials into the shape of FIGS. 2 or 3. As aconnection is often the weak point; it is desirable for the constructionto inhibit separation of components when placed under strain. In apreferred embodiment, the construction comprises sewing of 5 cord threadon a class 7 machine sewing a 3-point star pattern to achieve a desiredlevel of strength.

As can be seen in the embodiments of FIGS. 2 through 3, It is preferredthat the rig (100) generally comprise a main body section (101) with aplurality of legs (103) attached thereto. In the depicted embodiment,the main body section (101) is shown to be of a generally trapezoidal,or other quadrilateral, shape sewn so as to resolve into this shape whenplaced under tension. At each of multiple points on the main bodyportion (101) (in the embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 3 there are four pointsat the four corners), there is a ring of the strapping material makingup the main body portion (101) to which is attached a leg (103), eachleg (103) generally comprises a loop of webbing. The shape of the mainbody portion (101) will generally be determined by the number of legs(103) attached as well as considerations for the number of attachmentpoints (105) included. In the depicted embodiment, a quadrilateral islogical as it allows one of four legs (103) to be attached one at eachcorner. While in the depicted embodiment the main body portion (101) isa generally quadrilateral shape, the main body portion (101) may be ofany shape including, but not limited to, a circle, an ellipse, apolygon, or any other generally planar shape. Further, while the mainbody portion (101) is preferably a generally planar shape in arrangementso as to be relatively close to the level of the floor of the helicopterin use, this design is by no means required and in alternativeembodiments, more 3-dimensional structures may be used in constructingmain body portion (101) and/or legs (103).

The legs (103) are generally loops of strapping material designed towrap around the landing gear, wheel or skid support struts (531) of thehelicopter (500) to which the rig (100) is to be attached. In analternative embodiment, the legs (103) may attach to other structures ofthe helicopter (500) such as the body, the skids, or the tail. This isshown in FIG. 6 where the legs (103) have been wrapped around the struts(531) of the helicopter (500) which connect the landing skids of thehelicopter (500) to the body of the helicopter (500). Each of the legs(103) therefore preferably comprises an endless loop of strappingmaterial including at least one connector (301) which can mate with amating connector (311) on the main body portion (101). In the preferredembodiment, one end of the loop forming the leg (103) is non-removablyattached, in normal operation, to the main body portion (101), such asby sewing as discussed above, while the other end is attached using theconnector (301). The connector (301) is designed to allow the endlessloop of the leg (103) to be opened so as to place the strut (531) therethrough, and then closed again to attach the loop around the strut(531). The loop is then reattached to the main body portion (101) byconnecting the connector (301) with its mate (311) on the main bodyportion (101). The length of the loop of the leg (103) is preferablyadjustable by pulling on the strap of the leg (103) to shorten thelength of the leg (103) and tighten the connection. FIG. 6 provides fordetail showing one of the legs (103) wrapped around the strut (531) ofthe helicopter (500) (and covered by a portion of the strut (531)). FIG.4 shows how the tightening is accomplished. The leg (103) is tightenedby pulling on the end portion (163) of the strap through the frictionconnector (165). Once tightened, the friction connector (165) pinchesthe strap of the leg (103) to not allow the leg (103) length making upthe loop to increase. Such friction connectors (165) and methods arewell known to those ordinary skill in the art. When all of the legs(103) have been placed and tightened about respective struts (531), themain body portion (101) is suspended tautly in the helicopter (500). Itshould be apparent that with proper tightening, the main body portion(101) is relatively centered on the floor (503) of the helicopter (500)and the combination of legs (103) provides force on the main bodyportion (101) to inhibit motion of the main body portion (101) in anydirection relative to the helicopter (500). Each leg (103) may be ofadjustable size, shape, or construction to accommodate attachment inmultiple different helicopters (500), or may be sized and shaped for usewith a particular type of helicopter (500).

Further, the number of legs (103) used on present on the rig (100) maydepend on the number of attachment points used on the particularhelicopter (500) and the arrangement of those points. Generally, it willbe desirable to securely suspend the main body portion (101) via thelegs (103) via at least three points so that a force from any directionon the main body portion (101) will be resisted by an appropriate forcefrom a leg (103) to prevent the main body portion (101) from engaging inany significant movement in any direction when a force is applied to itfrom the rappelling action. It is preferable that the attachment bearranged so that there is no significant movement regardless of how manyrappellers are using the rig (100) at any given time, but that is notrequired in alternative embodiments. In a preferred embodiment, the legs(103) are arranged to extend from the main body portion (101) atrelatively equal angles from each other when the rig (100) is in placeto provide for taunt suspension in all directions. In this way, it isgenerally impossible for force in a particular direction applied to therig (100) to shift the rig (100) in any particular direction anysignificant amount. In a preferred embodiment, as depicted, four legs(103) are used to connect to the four struts (531) of the helicopter(500). The main body portion (101) when placed under strain because itsupports a rappeller may, of course, bend, flex, stretch or otherwiseadjust to accommodate the weight of the rappeller. Such adjustment ofstrapping material being understood to one of ordinary skill in the art.

The main body portion (101) of the rig (100) preferably includesmultiple attachment points (105) which comprise points at which toattach ropes for rappelling or fast roping, such mechanisms forattachment being understood by those of ordinary skill in the art. FIG.5 provides for a detail view showing two primary attachment points (105)which comprise loops of the strapping material of the main body portion(101) in the depicted embodiment. The rappeller will attach their ropes(or a group rope depending on the methods being used) to a particularattachment point (105), and rappel while the rope is secured to thehelicopter (500) by the rig (100). In the preferred embodiment, the rig(100) has sufficient attachment points (105) so that at least twopersons can rappel simultaneously from the rig (100), generally one outeach side of the helicopter (500), although the rig (100) may bedesigned to allow any number of simultaneous or related rappellingactivities.

In a preferred embodiment, the main body (101) also includes additionalattachment points (109) which are generally not used as the primaryattachment for ropes in rappelling operations but are instead used assafety contacts for personnel not currently rappelling to attach to therig (100) or for secondary or tertiary connections in the rappellingoperation. Alternatively, additional attachment points (109) may be usedfor additional rappelling. In the depicted embodiment of FIG. 5, arappeller using primary attachment point (105A), would generally useattachment point (1 09A) as a secondary attachment (such as for a brakerope), and could use attachment point (109B) as their tertiaryattachment point. Attachment points (109C) and (109D) would correspondto (109A) and (109B) for a primary attachment point of (105B).Attachment points (109E) would then generally be for use by otherpersonnel as safety connections.

During rappelling operations, the doors of the helicopter (500) which isbeing repelled from are usually opened or more generally removed. If thehelicopter (500) is forced to make sudden movements during therappelling operation, personnel waiting to rappel or otherwise presentin the helicopter (500) (for instance safety personnel or operators) whomay be standing or otherwise unable to be belted to the helicopter (500)may be flung out the open doors. The inclusion of additional attachmentpoints (109) can allow them to utilize safety cables attaching them tothe rig (100) to prevent falls from the helicopter (500) and allow themto be pulled back into the helicopter (500) by other personnel, orsafely lowered to the ground. Further, because the safety cables areattached to the rig (100), personnel can generally work with the rig(100) as their jobs might require without the safety cables constrainingtheir movement.

As depicted in FIGS. 2 through 3, the main body portion (101) mayinclude one or more reinforcing structures (111) which may be a part ofthe main body portion (101) or may be attached to the main body portion(101). These reinforcing structures (111), which in the depictedembodiment comprise strips of 1-¾″ Type 7 webbing arranged in the formof a beam or an “X” in the center of the main body portion (101),depending on the embodiment, generally provide for additional strengthto the rig (100). The reinforcing structures (111) may be of any type orshape known to those of ordinary skill in the art to reinforce the rig(100) and provide it with increased break resistance. In the depictedembodiment, the rig (100) is preferably rated to support at least twosimultaneous rappellers preferably being able to support at least a1,000 pound load before any failure. The beam construction is preferablein a two rappeller situation as the beam can be arranged between the twoattachment points (105) as shown in FIG. 2. This arrangement uses theweight of the two rappellers directly to counter-balance each other byallowing for a transfer of force between primary attachment point (105A)and (105B) and vice-versa.

In the depicted embodiment, the rig (100), as shown best in FIGS. 4 and5, also includes a protective covering (113) which may make variouscomponents of the rig (100) easier to see (such as by being brightlycolored) or may provide orientation information in addition toprotecting the legs (103) and/or main body portion (101) from wear ordamage as well as protecting the helicopter (500) from damage from therig (100). In particular, many components of the rig (100) will moverelative to the helicopter (500) or relative to each other duringinstallation and may flex or push against the structure in operation.For instance, the legs (103) may pull, stretch, or rub, against variousportions of the helicopter (500) body and the rig (100) may be abradedby moving personnel or equipment inside the helicopter (500). As theprotective covering (113) preferably surrounds the rig (100) at pointsof likely damage, and will comprise fabric or similar materials, theprotective covering (113) may avoid these damaging actions. However, theprotective covering (113) preferably does not provide for structuralstrength of the rig (100) and therefore, if damaged, does not compromisethe strength of the rig (100). As shown in the depicted embodiment, theprotective covering (113) may be removably secured around the leg (103)and/or connector (301) such as by being able to be separated from itselfat a connection point held together with hook and loop faster (Velcro™),or other types of fastener. The protective covering (113) may beconstructed of any type of material but in a preferred embodimentcomprises orange or yellow Spundura® fiber.

Further, protective coverings may be used to cover mechanical componentsof the rig (100) to protect them from damage or from unintendedactivation. In particular, the covering (113) as shown in FIG. 5 may beplaced over the connection from the leg (103) to the main body portion(101) to prevent the connector (301) from becoming snagged or being hitby an object which could result in the opening of the connector (301).

In a preferred embodiment, the rig (100) is intended for rapiddeployment to allow a helicopter which is not always used for rappellingto be converted into a platform for rappelling very quickly. This isparticularly useful in search and rescue operations where a search andrescue crew needs to respond to a distress call and be ready to performa rappelling operation quickly and may need to use a helicopter used forother purposes (such as police operations) or commandeered at the timeand place of rescue. Because of the rig's (100) shape and constructionmaterials being constructed from small strong connectors and strappingmaterials, it can generally be compacted into a relatively small spacewhen not in use. In particular, it may be transported in a small duffelbag or other carrying case when not in use as the strapping materialscan usually be bent, folded, or crushed without causing structuraldamage to them. This can allow the rig (100) to be maintained eithernear or within the helicopter or easily transported by an individualhuman being to a helicopter.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the rig (100) attached to a helicopter(500) as it might be when ready for use. The main body portion (101) isplaced within the helicopter (500) on or near the floor (503) of thehelicopter (500). The doors of the helicopter (500) are removed. Thelegs (103) are then extended from the main body portion (101) and eachleg (103) is attached securely to a strut (501) of the helicopter (500)suspending the main body portion (101) of the rig within the body of thehelicopter (500) once installed. The two attachment points (105) areaccessible for rappelling out of the doors on either side of thehelicopter (500) and the rig (101) is ready for use. FIG. 6 provides fora rappeller (901) connected with rappelling ropes (903) to the rig ofFIG. 1 and ready to rappel. This may be a transport position to thepoint of rappelling and also the staging arrangement prior torappelling. Generally there will be a rappeller (901) in thisorientation on both sides of the helicopter (500) simultaneously toprovide for an even distribution of weight as they rappel

FIG. 7 provides for a flowchart of the steps used to attach the rig(100) to the helicopter (500). In step (401) the doors are removed fromthe helicopter (500) or are opened and secured in position. In step(403), The rig (100) is generally laid out on the floor of thehelicopter (500) in the general position in which it will be placed. Instep (405), the coverings (113) are opened and the leg connectors (301)are disconnected from the mating connectors (311) on the main bodysection (101). In step (407), the legs (103) are placed so as toencircle the strut (531) of the helicopter (500). In step (409), the legconnector (301) is reconnected to the main body section (101) matingconnector (311) and the length of the leg (103) loop is reduced totighten the connection and to support the rig (101) in a relativelyrigid position. At this time the rig (101) is installed as in FIG. 1.Prior to rappelling, a rappelling rope or ropes will be attached at step(411) to a connection point (105) of the rig (100), and a rappeller willattach themselves to the rope(s) as is understood by one of ordinaryskill in the art such as is shown in FIG. 6.

While the invention has been disclosed in connection with certainpreferred embodiments, this should not be taken as a limitation to allof the provided details. Modifications and variations of the describedembodiments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention, and other embodiments should be understood to beencompassed in the present disclosure as would be understood by those ofordinary skill in the art.

1. A rappelling rig comprising: a relatively planar main body portioncomprising strapping materials; a plurality of legs attached to saidmain body portion, said legs comprising strapping materials; and atleast one attachment point connected to said main body portion, saidattachment point being suitable for the attachment of a rappelling rope;wherein, each of said plurality of legs is connected to a strut of saidhelicopter such that said main body portion is suspended within saidhelicopter in such a manner that a user can attach a rappelling rope tosaid attachment point and rappel from said helicopter.
 2. The rig ofclaim 1 wherein said strapping materials comprise strips of webbing. 3.The rig of claim 1 wherein said strapping materials comprise rope. 4.The rig of claim 1 wherein said strapping materials comprise cable. 5.The rig of claim 1 wherein said strapping materials comprise chain. 6.The rig of claim 1 further comprising at least one secondary attachmentpoint.
 7. The rig of claim 6 wherein said secondary attachment point isalso used by said user for rappelling.
 8. The rig of claim 6 whereinsaid secondary attachment point is used as a safety connection for asecond user in said helicopter.
 9. The rig of claim 6 further comprisingat least one tertiary attachment point.
 10. The rig of claim 9 whereinsaid tertiary attachment point is also used by said user for rappelling.11. The rig of claim 9 wherein said secondary attachment point is usedas a safety connection for a second user in said helicopter.
 12. The rigof claim 1 wherein said main body portion is generally polygonal inshape.
 13. The rig of claim 12 wherein said main body portion isgenerally quadrilateral in shape.
 14. The rig of claim 13 wherein saidmain body portion is generally trapezoidal in shape.
 15. The rig ofclaim 13 wherein said legs are attached to said main body portion at thecorners of said quadrilateral.
 16. The rig of claim 1 wherein each ofsaid legs comprises a loop of said strapping materials.
 17. The rig ofclaim 16 wherein one end of said loop is sewn to said main body and theother end of said loop is attached to said main body by a connector. 18.The rig of claim 17 further comprising a protective covering.
 19. Therig of claim 18 wherein said covering is removably secured around saidleg and said connector.
 20. The rig of claim 1 wherein said legs arewrapped around the struts of said helicopter.
 21. The rig of claim 1further comprising a support in said main body portion.
 22. The rig ofclaim 21 wherein said support comprises a beam constructed of strappingmaterials.
 23. The rig of claim 21 wherein said support comprises an “X”constructed of strapping materials.
 24. A method of preparing ahelicopter for a rappelling operation, the method comprising the stepsof: providing a helicopter providing a rig, the rig comprising: arelatively planar main body portion comprising strapping materials; aplurality of legs attached to said main body portion, said legscomprising strapping materials; and at least one attachment pointconnected to said main body portion, said attachment point beingsuitable for the attachment of a rappelling rope; removing doors fromthe helicopter; laying said rig on the floor of the helicopter; wrappingsaid legs around struts of said helicopter so that each leg encircles astrut of said helicopter; adjusting said legs so as to support said mainbody portion under tension in said helicopter; attaching a rappellingrope to said attachment point; and allowing a rappeller to be connectedto said rappelling rope.
 25. A rig for use in rappelling from ahelicopter, the rig comprising: a main body portion; attachment meansfor allowing a rappelling rope to be attached to said main body portion;and leg means for attaching said main body portion to said helicopter,said leg means connecting to the struts of said helicopter; wherein,each of said leg means is connected to said struts of said helicopter sothat said main body portion generally cannot move relative to saidhelicopter and a user can attach a rappelling rope to said attachmentmeans and rappel from said helicopter.
 26. The rig of claim 25 whereinsaid main body portion is constructed of 1-¾″ Type 13U webbing.
 27. Therig of claim 26 wherein said leg means comprise loops of 1-¾″ Type 13Uwebbing.